on serving as interim education commissioner

Kentucky School Advocate
May 2020

In Conversation With … features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate. Kevin Brown became interim commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education in December. He spent 14 years with the department in various roles, including associate commissioner and general legal counsel. He also served as interim commissioner once before, in the fall of 2015. Brown currently is on leave as general counsel for Jefferson County Schools.

Q: Why did you agree to return to the Department of Education until a new commissioner was hired?

A. When I left KDE in 2018, I thought I wanted to do something outside of education. By the end of that summer, I realized education was where my heart is. I had spent all my adult life trying to perfect the craft of education law. I took the offer I got to be general counsel for Jefferson County Schools. When I got the call late last year from David Karem, chairman of the state board of education, I understood that the department needed someone to serve temporarily and thought my services could be utilized.

Q. You agreed to serve with two conditions, one that you would return to your job in Jefferson County. Tell us about the other.

A. It was that Chairman Karem publically announce that I was not being considered for the permanent position. That was important to me because, in my opinion, when you are doing an interim position, you need to focus on being the interim. 

Q. You mentioned during a recent KBE meeting that Chairman Karem apologized for asking you to take the interim position during what turned into an unprecedented time in Kentucky public education. Can you share what you told him? 

A. When David was in the state Senate, he always used humor to diffuse situations. He called one day about two weeks into the pandemic and said, “Kevin, I just want to say, ‘I’m sorry.’” I said, “What for David?” He said, “We had no idea you would have to deal with this.” I said, “When you do anything, in any kind of job, you sign up for it. This is part of the job and we all know things like this can happen. And, that in some weird way, I am actually enjoying the challenge.” I am exhausted and it has been challenging. But the best part is being able to work with the districts and superintendents and the staff in the department. I don’t want to say it has been easy, but it has been easier for me because of the talent we have in Kentucky.

Q. Many superintendents have praised your leadership and the department’s response in helping schools and districts continue to serve students through nontraditional instruction days and continued food service. What has been the biggest challenge in responding to the crisis? 

A. The fact that it changes from day to day. We must communicate adequately and efficiently with the superintendents and we are beefing up our efforts to communicate. Superintendents feel their voice has been heard. When I took the job, I had started calling all superintendents; my goal was to have some type of contact or call with every superintendent by midwinter. I gave them all my mobile phone number. I think that communication effort went a long way in working with them. We’ve been able to respond quickly to their needs.

Q. You’ve in turn praised superintendents for their cooperation in taking actions like quickly agreeing to close districts for in-person instruction. 

A. Yes, and then over half of them turned around and said we’ll be an NTI (Non-Traditional Instruction Program) district. Initially, we only had 83 NTI districts and within five days all 172 districts were NTI and we had over 2,000 feeding sites and not every district participating had been in the summer feeding program. In March, we delivered 4.6 million meals to 230,000 students at 2,000 sites. When the history is written over this period, some amazing things are going to come shining through about people about working together.

Q. When the crisis began, the Kentucky Department of Education was the first state agency to have all employees working remotely. How did you accomplish this and how do you continue to lead the staff from afar?

A. Part of it was due to the history of telecommuting that this department had, which started about 10 years ago with former commissioner Dr. (Terry) Holliday. Before the pandemic, we had 30 to 40 percent of staff telecommuting on a staggered basis. We started expanding it during the first weeks of the pandemic and it was going so well that we moved to 100 percent. I have been so impressed with how folks have responded. From what we have learned, there have been no service disruptions, and we have had no complaints. Of course, you do find out that your work place and coworkers are support mechanisms and you miss that. So we are encouraging our employees to have those conversations by calling their coworkers. 

Q. What have you been most proud of in the way Kentucky public education has responded to this crisis?

A. Everything we have asked the districts to do they have done. Of course, there have been issues, but everybody has responded because they understand the importance of education. In the first few days of the pandemic, I wanted to focus our efforts so I came up with three words for us to go by: Educate, Feed and Support. We are focused on those three things, which are all done at the district level. If you turn on social media for five minutes you can find something that has been done for students in a school district that will bring a tear to your eye.

Q. In addition to your career in Kentucky public education, your mother was a teacher and your father was a longtime school board member in Garrard County, so you have a deep understanding of schools and of school board members’ roles. Going forward, school boards will face many challenges, from changing graduation requirements to making difficult budget decisions. Do you have any advice for school board members?

A. Tough decisions are ahead as the economic downturn will affect state and local revenues, which of course will then affect the ability of school boards to have adequate funds to support education and kids. There will be a need for additional educational services for kids and additional social emotional supports for students as a result of the pandemic because of the closure of schools for multiple weeks with NTI instruction.

Boards are going to have to evaluate their ability to provide additional supports to students over the summer, making sure they have funds to do so. Things like having school nurses in every building and a mental health professional in every building, which is a requirement of Senate Bill 1, which was not funded, or at least up until now was not funded. Students will have more needs coming back after this pandemic.

Even if we start school next year and there are no restrictions and the buses come fully loaded on August 15 and schools are filled to capacity, it will still be a year that is like no other in that students ended the previous year in such an unusual way. 

Q. When the pandemic is over and students eventually return to their classrooms, what will be the lasting impact on public education in Kentucky?

A. NTI will become another part of the way we deliver educational services. We won’t just use it for snow days or flu days; it will move more into the mainstream in how teachers deliver instruction. 

As good as the NTI program is, and it is good, it is not the same as in-class instruction. We know NTI was never designed to be used day after day and week after week. At the same time, we’re also seeing teachers and districts adapt to the situation and find new ways to reach students with technology. David Cook heads up our NTI work and he says NTI is better today than it was March 16 because we are continuing to learn and it will be better May 1 than it is today. 

Q. What advice do you have for whomever becomes the next education commissioner?

A. Communicate, communicate, communicate. The communication I have been able to do has been received well. We’ve been able to get information out quickly so local leaders can make decisions. We have advisory groups like our local school board advisory committee. We are meeting with that committee in May because we need their counsel and advice about how to move forward. We will meet virtually. It will be our first meeting with local school board members through Microsoft Teams.